Today is Independence Day in America, that fateful day when America decided it knew better than Britain. I'm not sure they were right about that, looking at America today. It is also the birthday of Australian Cancerian, Zoee, who celebrates today with the release of her debut album, The Butterfly Effect.
The problem with Zoee is that I got to know her after 30th May when she slipped into my DMs and started talking about dirt bikes and Tasmania. She moved her whole family to the UK aged 16 to pursue her music dreams, and arrived in Nashville a couple of years ago. She has worked the scene hard, made some strong connections and got a whole album ready to push.
This is only a problem in the sense that when you get to know the artist, objectivity flies out of the window. The lucky part of this is that I genuinely think Zoee is going to make it big with this one. She has found her groove, her people, and has an audience desperate to hear more.
I Could Complain was Zoee's anthem for a "soft girl summer", her way to say look guys, things could be worse. Don't complain.
Zoee is genuinely grateful for every post, every article, every mention. What she doesn't seem to realise is that I have a secret list with five names on it. These are the artists I got to know this year and write about in more detail than the others.
She is the only Australian on the list, the only "soft girl", by which I mean the only one who does not bring with her a certain darkness, a shadow, a night vibe. She is the only summer girl on my list!
I am not going to post a full album release today. I have heard it all, and every song has something to commend it. But Zoee has spent so long on this, so many months, that it deserves a more considered reply.
You have heard all the singles since March anyway, so you already know about those songs, of which more below.
PAUL DETTMANN
PAUL DETTMANN
I'll Have What He's Having
This is a deep song for a single, out today to coincide with the album release. It calls to mind the scene from the film When Harry Met Sally in which Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in a diner and another guest tells the waiter: I'll have what she's having!
Stylistically this is a slightly dancey country song with lots of steel guitar and dry desert acoustics. It references Cool Springs, TN and a truck with a tailgate. But she wants a "chart-topping double album" that goes double platinum.
Is this guy another singer? Yes he is! He takes a private jet everywhere. He is a big boy with big toys. Emphasis on boy. Why can't she have all these trappings of success? If she really wanted all that cash, she could just ensnare a star like him: it would be a shortcut.
But this isn't Zoee. She's not like this. She doesn't wish for material things, she doesn't complain. You already know this. A private jet would not excite her. We need to dig deeper. It is a persona.
My interpretation is that she worries for the girls who really are like this. They're the same girls who filter themselves excessively on socials such that you have no idea who they really are. The real tragedy here, of course, is that they don't know who they are either.
True Crime
I want to focus on True Crime. How could Crime Guy not do that? True Crime starts off telling us the story of a dead boyfriend. He's wearing Zoee's bloodstained shirt with another girl's lipstick on the collar. Zoee seems to have a three hour gap in her memory. Was she drugged or drunk? There was a lot of Patron tequila that night.
Either way the sheriff seems to think she did the deed. Next thing she has to talk to the county shrink. The shrink seems to blame the tequila for her murderous temper. Then they find the gun in the river with her print on the trigger. The best advice is to blame madness and hope it keeps her out of the can. It won't.
This song stands out to me because it shows that Zoee loves a dark story as much as anyone else. We all know that women are drawn to true crime even more than men. Like ghost stories, they are wintry tales. This album shows a range far broader than the early singles, which were light summer songs in the main.
The Butterfly Effect
You are going to love this album when you get your hands and ears on it. As you would expect, I will be writing about all of the songs in due course. For now, have a close listen to I'll Have What He's Having and True Crime and tell me that Zoee is "only" a soft summer girl!
You can stream the new album below or on your usual streaming service. You can also buy on physical media.
